The Belhar Confession, a declaration of human unity, justice and reconciliation drafted in 1982 by Reformed brethren amid apartheid in South Africa, will be up for approval when the church's General Synod starts meeting next week.

Carol Bechtel

Some in the RCA say the confession speaks to the 166,000-member church's need to become more diverse as it pursues growth goals. But the Belhar's text also might speak to an ongoing debate about homosexuality, which is back on Synod's agenda for the first time since 2006. And that could give some Synod delegates pause.

"I've had many conversations with people across the denomination who are worried about that," said the Rev. Carol Bechtel, a Western Theological Seminary professor and sitting Synod president.

"One of the things I noticed in my travels (as president) is how the Belhar is not confined to the original context that gave it birth. They very deliberately left out the word 'apartheid' because they didn't want it eternally moored in that specific situation."

Church talk

Hot topics at the Reformed Church in America's General Synod

Homosexuality: A report on a three-year dialogue recommends more dialogue.

The Belhar Confession: The church's first new confession since 1619 is up for approval. It speaks of the church's desire to become more multicultural, and may also have a voice in the ongoing homosexuality talk.

The church magazine: A church subsidy has been halted, making The Church Herald rely on subscriptions for revenue. The magazine is running a deficit. A new, church-financed publication called "RCA Today" is being published quarterly. Delegates will consider some kind of merged magazine.

Finances: As a cost-saving measure, delegates will consider skipping the 2010 General Synod, scheduled at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

Bechtel said the church's confessions "rise up out of our encounter with the Bible in history," expressing faith at a moment in time in a way that bears witness to the future. She said the Belhar emphasizes unity, justice and reconciliation in ways that the RCA's three current confessions, the last of which was adopted in 1619, do not.

So the Belhar might give the church a clearer voice on political conflict in Palestine, violence in Africa or, perhaps, homosexuality. The confession was drafted under the leadership of Allan Boesak, who last year quit the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa after that Synod rejected his claim that the Belhar supports full church participation of gays.

Officially, an RCA report on a three-year dialogue on homosexuality suggests continued discussion.

"We talked. We've learned a lot about how to talk. And we need to keep talking," Bechtel said. "That will frustrate some people at both ends of the spectrum, but this is where the Belhar is relevant.

"It counsels a kind of loving conversation that's firm, but open, as opposed to just lobbing Bible verses at each other," she said. "We're being called to genuine engagement and a patience with each other that is borne of a concern for unity and reconciliation."

General Synod, the RCA's annual meeting of church leaders, convenes Thursday through June 9.